PETROGRAPHY AND THIN SECTION STUDY OF YANIK CULTURE'S POTTERY (KURA-ARAXES) AT TAPE KELAR, KUL TAPE AND TAPE GOURAB: CASE STUDY

From the late fourth millennium to the early third millennium, an homogenous culture with common features emerged in a vast region, including the northern part of the Iranian plateau, the east and north-east of Turkey, Syria, and the Mediterranean coast. This culture is known with different names, such as the Transcaucasian, Kura-Araxes, Yannik, Karaz, and so on. One of its main features is the glossy, Incised and black pottery. There are many discussions about the origin and the causes of its spread. Various factors, especially immigration, trade, expansion, and imitation have been stated for the justification of this expansion. In this study, the Kura-Araxes pottery was studied in three regions, namely Tape Kelar at Kelardasht (North of Iran), Kul tape at Jolfa (Northwest of Iran), and Tape Gourab at Malayer (West of Iran). In this research, 30 pottery fragments of Kura-Aras culture were analysed by thin-section and petrography method for provenance studies. It is found that these pottery fragments were localized and consistent with the minerals and structures of the studied areas despite the diversification of soil and materials used in the production process